


My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose

by Busby_Lost_Marbles



Category: Call the Midwife
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 20:12:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11043480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Busby_Lost_Marbles/pseuds/Busby_Lost_Marbles
Summary: Delia Busby is starting university, and a new phase in her life. In the halls, she meets an enigmatic redhead...Modern AU set in Scotland that nobody asked for!





	1. Chapter 1

Delia Busby had always been in love with the stars. From her village in Pembrokeshire she had loved to go out at night and watch them, whenever she was lucky enough to get a clear sky (although the light pollution was almost non-existent, there was rarely a cloudless sky in Wales!).

To her, the swirling oblivion of the night sky offered endless possibility. Watching the sky, she truly was travelling back in time; none of the stars appeared as they were at that moment in time. The images were hundreds, thousands, even millions of years old. There was always something poetic to her about space- whether it was the fact that its sheer scale brought a meaning to the concept of infinity, or the beautiful swirling colours of nebulae, or even its promise of alien life, she didn’t know.

Speaking of aliens, she’d always felt a bit like one back in Pembrokeshire. Her love of the stars had made her a bit of a curiosity back home- she knew that studying astrophysics was as close as she’d get to the stars, but mathematicians and physicists, particularly girl ones, were not common in Little Haven. Her mother was forever hoping her daughter would see sense and settle with a nice boy instead, but Mrs Busby knew that that wasn’t where her daughter’s heart lay. She didn’t think of astronomy as a useful subject, and thought that there were much more useful things for her to do on this planet- her father could use some help in his draper’s shop, for starters. But ever since Auntie Blod had sent over a book on the Solar System from London, then a small telescope for Delia’s 10th birthday, there had been no stopping her. She was mortified at first (“Delia, for the love of God, don’t use that bloody telescope in the daytime- the neighbours will think you are spying on them!”), but did see that Delia’s natural curiosity and sharp mind suited her for a scientific subject. She supposed that it could be worse- instead of sneaking off to parties, her daughter snuck up the hill at night time with her telescope. Delia was as tame as a teenager could get (even if she had fallen out trees attempting to get a better look at the sky and gave her mother a heart attack with the various scrapes she’d gotten herself into).

Despite her mother’s reluctant support, Delia still felt like an outsider. While the girls in her class were all interested in Gregory Williams, the class heartthrob, and his new haircut, Delia engrossed herself in her maths textbooks. She hung about with the guys a lot- Greg was alright, she supposed, but she really didn’t see his huge appeal. She yearned to find people who were interested in the same things as she was, and who wanted to see more of the world than just Little Haven.

This was why she had accepted an offer from Edinburgh to study- it was far enough from home, had a decent department, similar climate (rain did _not_ intimidate her), and Celtic connections were aplenty. She’d been once before during the festival- her parents had hated it, but she loved the wacky street acts, and wandering the city’s cobbled streets was another way for her to travel back in time. It had the big city vibe, without the massive scale. Plus, the connections to Harry Potter were always going to be an asset. She knew that this would be a place where she would like to spend the next four years.

Delia got in easily- she was a straight-A student, and she was absolutely passionate about the subject. To her delight, there was even a small observatory just up the hill from the university science campus. This was the place she wanted to be.

However, when she arrived in Edinburgh, she wasn’t entirely sure she had made the right choice. Coming off the train, she was greeted with a gust of icy wind carrying the torrential rain almost horizontally. It was far too windy for an umbrella, so her parents and she had to run for a taxi to take them to her student accommodation.

Once in the taxi, away from the wind, she was able to filter out her mother’s complaints (“Cariad, can you believe we’ve come all this way for this? We get rain in Pembrokeshire but it isn’t this bad. Nothing is this bad. Why couldn’t you have gone to Swansea? It’s so much closer, less expensive and the weather is not as bad as this. You’d still expect some rain in Scotland, but dear God...”). Watching the rain pour down the windows, and observing the smoky façades, she remembered why she had come here. Edinburgh was beautiful, even in the rain.

Arriving at Pollock Halls, she marvelled at the natural beauty of the surroundings. It was right next to Holyrood Park, which looked like a miniature version of the Highlands, and she was delighted that it would give her a little opportunity for hillwalking. Delia was in good shape and loved sports, so she enjoyed the outdoors greatly. Pollock Halls was just next to a swimming pool too, so she’d be able to spend time there too. This was just getting better and better.

She found her room (thankfully a single, but with a shared bathroom), bid farewell to her parents, and flopped down on her bed. This was it. The beginning of the rest of her life.

After putting away most of her belongings, and assessing her room as respectably tidy, Delia was jolted by a decisive knock at her door. When she answered it, she was greeted by the sight of a rather striking redhead who was smiling at her a little nervously.

“Oh, hello there. I’m Patience Mount, but everyone calls me Patsy, I’m the RA. I’m actually just next door, and I heard you arrive, so I thought I’d come and say hello, and if you need anything you are welcome to come and see me. I’m in second year, so I have a decent idea of how this place works, and if you need anything, just chap on my door.”

Delia gulped, hearing the clipped RP, as Patsy flashed her a brilliant half smile. This girl had perfectly sculpted cheekbones, and her legs seemed to go on forever, and oh heavens, her eyes were really blue. Her hair was in a neat beehive, with not one flyaway hair. She was amazing. Delia felt her face grow warm. Shit. She’d taken too long to respond and Patsy was looking at her quizzically. Say something, Busby.

“Oh, er, thanks. I haven’t spent a lot of time in Edinburgh so I probably will be needing some help. I’m Delia, by the way, Delia Busby. First year astrophysics”. Good job, Busby, she thought. Nothing too incriminating so far.

“Oh, you’re Welsh?” asked Patsy. Delia nodded. “How lovely! I daresay you won’t be too out of place, it rains a bit here are there are plenty Celts! But a scientist… Hmm. Just as I was thinking we would get on!” Delia was a bit taken aback.

“Ah, really?”, she asked, in a slightly strangled voice. She sure as hell wanted to get on with Patsy. In more ways than one… No. Keep it together, Busby.

Patsy flashed her another dazzling half-smile. Delia could get used to these. “I’m only teasing. I study history, I’m sure you are familiar with the little, ah, rivalries between us humanities students and you scientists. I daresay we have the better end of the deal here at Edinburgh- we get the central, beautiful buildings, and less 9am lectures!” Delia had no idea whether to laugh or cry. At this point she wanted to do both.

Sensing Delia’s bewilderment, Patsy wanted to crawl into a hole. Pretty girls had a way of making her talk absolute nonsense, and pretty was the understatement when it came to Delia. She quickly backtracked.

“I mean, you will still love it here. Everyone is very friendly, and the staff are top notch. There are lots of societies and thing that I am sure you will enjoy.” She reached out and touched Delia’s arm, “Anyway, I need to go and see the other freshers settling in, but do come to the common room at 5, we will have tea and cake and you can meet your fellow students before dinner.”

“Thanks, Patsy, I definitely will.” Delia’s heart was racing. It seemed silly, but all of a sudden, she didn’t really want to meet the others. She would be quite content staying here with Patsy, but she knew Patsy had to go.

“Excellent,” Patsy squeezed Delia’s shoulder. “I look forward to seeing you then!”

And with that, she walked away. Delia gently closed her door and slumped against it, letting out a deep breath. Snap out of it, Busby. There is no way you are going to get through uni if you get yourself an infatuation within your first 30 seconds. Take a deep breath, and you will be fine.

She still figured freshening up before the gathering at 5 couldn’t hurt…


	2. Chapter 2

What was she going to wear? Rifling desperately through her things, nothing seemed suitable any more. She eventually settled for skinny jeans and a flowy navy top. Safe combination.

Satisfied with her choice, Delia padded out to the bathroom, ready to wash the ickiness of the journey off herself. She sighed deeply, allowing herself to relax as the warm water from the shower eased her tense muscles. She allowed her thoughts to wander to the events of the day as she lazily massaged shampoo into her hair. This was mind-blowing. She was finally here, she would make friendships that would last the rest of her life, this was a totally new phase of her life, it was-

“HELLO??? I SAY, I’M FRIGHTFULLY SORRY, BUT WILL YOU BE LONG? I AM IN A SLIGHT PREDICAMENT!”

Delia was snapped from her musings by a loud, rather insistent knock at the door. Cripes. Scrambling to her feet, she hastily wrapped herself and her hair into a towel, and grabbed her things, but in her haste to open the door, slipped on a patch of water and ended up spread-eagled on the ground in front of a very tall, worried looking bespectacled brunette who was clutching a very bloody Kleenex to her nose.

“By George! Are you alright? Do you need a hand up? I don’t mean to be rude, but can I step past you? I’ve run out of tissues and I am in dire need of something to stem this,” she babbled, pointing to her profusely bleeding nose.

Delia wanted nothing more but to crawl into a hole and die at this point. She was absolutely beet red. Scrambling to her feet and pushing the other girl past her, she stammered,

“Why, y-yes, of course, I’m _so_ sorry, are you okay? I have some tissues in my room, it’s just across the hall, I am so sorry, I’ll quickly get dressed and get you some!!”

She didn’t even give the poor girl time to answer, instead, bolting to her room (and managing to remain upright this time- typical, why did she have to fall over in the presence of others?). Pulling on her clothes as fast as possible, she bolted back to the bathroom, box of tissues in hand, where the girl was clutching a wad of loo roll to her nose and muttering to herself.

“Oh, you absolute angel!” she exclaimed. “I’m frightfully sorry to be such a bally nuisance but I get these simply horrid nosebleeds when I’m nervous. I hope you are okay?”

Delia still felt slightly baffled, handing over the box of tissues. As the girl hastened to take the tissues off Delia with her left hand, as her right was clutching her nose, she managed to knock a bunch of bottles of shower gels and the like off the surface next to her, and watched despairingly as they clattered into the bathtub. Delia smiled inwardly; it appeared that she wasn’t the only clumsy one here!

“It’s absolutely no problem at all, you poor thing, here, let me get those,” she smiled reassuringly at the girl, picking the bottles up and putting them back neatly onto the surface from which they fell.

“I seem to be in a bit of a pickle today, thank you, and sorry again. I’m Camilla Fortescue Cholmondeley-Browne,” she grimaced, “a bit of a mouthful I know, but people call me Chummy. I can’t stand Camilla. I’d shake your hand but I don’t think you would want me to now!” she laughed, gesturing to her nose.

“Oh, that is okay, don’t worry,” Delia smiled nervously, slightly taken aback by the earnest girl, but she knew that she wanted this Chummy to be one of her friends immediately. “I’m Delia Busby, I don’t have any nicknames, I’m just about to start first year astrophysics, and you are right, I will respectfully decline that handshake! What are you studying?”

“I’m just about to start first year chemistry,” Chummy smiled.

Holy mother of God, thought Delia. Someone in university admissions thought that it was a clever idea to let this girl loose in a lab.

“How nice! Did you arrive long ago?”

“A couple of hours ago, it was a bit of a struggle, but we got there eventually! We came up from Berkshire, and you from Wales, I presume?”

“Yes, from Pembrokeshire, we took the train, and I think we must’ve arrived about the same time as you!” said Delia.

She did not say this to Chummy, but she distinctly remembered a girl knocking over three large suitcases in the reception area, when she arrived, then tripping over whilst attempting to put them back upright, much to the dismay of her mother, a severe looking woman in a heavy fur coat. She hadn’t seen the girl’s face but she’d bet money on it being Chummy. She’d felt a wave of sympathy for the girl, knowing what having a mother who was overbearing at times was like.

Mrs Busby, however, had felt strongly for the mother:

“Oh cariad, can you imagine that poor mother? Poor dear, imagine if you had done that to me! In front of all those people! Not the way you want to start your university career, is it, dear?”

Looking at Chummy now, she felt like they would become firm friends.

“Oh, did the RA come to speak to you? She was terribly kind. Patsy, I think her name was? She said to meet in the common room at 5?” asked Chummy.

Delia coloured slightly, remembering the alluring RA. Get it together, Busby.

“Oh, er, yes, she said there might be cake,” replied Delia quickly. “I’m looking forward to meeting the others, though I am glad there will be a familiar face with you there too! Speaking of, I’m going to need to get a move on if I’m ever going to be ready, you can keep the tissues, I have plenty.”

“Oh, thanks ever so much, I will see you there, as long as I don’t get lost!”

“Bye, Chummy!”

Delia left the girl in the bathroom, closing the door gently and checking her watch. She had half an hour to dry her hair, look half decent, and make her way to the common room. Time was going to be a little tight, it seemed…

_A/N: Thank you so much for the lovely reactions so far! Here is a second chapter, with Patsy hopefully reappearing soon ;)_

_Please do leave reviews, this is my first attempt at writing in ages, and if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!_

 


	3. Chapter 3

Delia made it by 5 to the common room. She scanned the room. It wasn’t much, really, a few sofas, a telly, coffee tables and a piano, but it seemed nice. A few students had gathered already, and were helping themselves to tea and some cake.

Upon noticing Delia come in, Patsy had made a beeline straight for her. Delia’s heart leapt as she saw the redhead flash her a great big smile. It truly was dazzling.

“Hello, Delia! I’m glad you’ve come. There are quite a few freshers here, so you can go and speak to anyone, and there is tea and cake, so help yourself! We figured it was easier this way for you to get to know people than forcing icebreakers on you all!”

“Thanks, Patsy, I- “

Delia did not have time to finish her sentence, as a sophisticated-looking blonde marched straight over to them. She had platinum blonde hair effortlessly styled into a perfectly messy bob, and impeccable lipstick and eyeliner, and placed a hand on Patsy’s upper arm.

“Patsy, sweetie, I hope you aren’t frightening the poor girl! Or boring her. Or possibly both!”

Oh. _‘Sweetie’_. Of course Patsy wasn’t single, not with a face like that. Or a body like that, come to think of it… Snap out of it Busby! Delia shook her head.

“Oh Patsy, she’s just being kind, I’m sure! My name is Beatrix Franklin, but everyone calls me Trixie. I’m just about to start second year Politics and International Relations. What about you?” she smiled kindly at Delia.

“I’m Delia Busby, just about to start first year astrophysics. I’ve not spent a lot of time in Edinburgh, so I am a bit nervous to be honest!” she laughed a little nervously.

“Patsy, we have another scientist on our hands, dear God! You should talk to Cynthia over there, she’s doing maths, first year too,” she said, gesturing towards a mousy brown-haired girl sat by herself, looking quite small on one of the leather sofas.

“Oh, I will, thank you!” Delia smiled at Patsy and Trixie. “I’d best leave you two to it, it was lovely meeting you, Trixie. Thanks again, Patsy!” Delia made her way to the table to get herself a cup of tea and a slice of carrot cake.

Little did Delia know that Patsy was watching her, transfixed, noting every sway of the Welshwoman’s hips as she walked away. This did not go unnoticed by Trixie.

“Patience Elizabeth Mount, you dark horse!”

Patsy coloured a little, “I don’t know what you mean!”

“You fancy her!” smirked Trixie.

“Trixie! Shut up or she’ll hear you!”

“The only thing that I’m hearing is that you’re not denying it” Trixie clapped her hands gleefully. “Oh we are _so_ getting you together, I am going to make it my mission.”

“But Trixie, we don’t know if she likes women, and besides,” she gestured towards the brunette, who was smiling at and talking animatedly to Cynthia, “she’s far too nice for me”.

Their conversation was interrupted by the entry of Chummy, who made her grand entrance by tripping over the rug.

“I say! Sorry about that, folks, on you go!” She smiled at Trixie and Patsy, before heading straight for Delia and Cynthia, who were discussing The Theory of Everything.

“I’m telling you, Patsy, it is my mission. And it starts right now.” Trixie marched off to go and turn some music on.

 

Delia had had an interesting evening. She’d met a bunch of people she could see herself becoming friends with- Chummy and Cynthia were her favourites so far, but there was also Winifred, a first-year theology student, Jenny who was in third year of music, Christopher, who was in fourth year of a dentistry degree, Barbara, first year French and Spanish, and Tony, who was in third year psychology. They’d all been welcoming and the evening was going very well. They’d ordered pizza for dinner, and then began some drinking and dancing.

Delia had no idea where the whisky had come from, but had gladly accepted a glass. This was Scotland, after all, and it would be a crime not to celebrate her first night with some of the amber liqueur. She was feeling pleasantly lightheaded, and she sat by herself on one of the leather sofas, watching the dancing in the centre of the common room that seemed to have started up (seriously, how had they been allowed to make so much noise in a common space? It was 11 o’clock now, but Delia certainly was not complaining).

Observing Patsy on the improvised dancefloor was sweet torture. She was clearly out of Delia’s league in every way, but good God, that girl could move. Her hair hadn’t budged from its neat style, or almost, as a couple of strands had escaped and were stuck to her forehead with sweat. She was absolutely transfixed, and ached to join her, but didn’t have the guts. She was, after all, taken.

As if sensing Delia’s inner thoughts, Trixie flopped down on the sofa next to Delia.

“Are you alright, sweetie? You seem a bit out of sorts,” she asked kindly.

“Oh, er, yes! Thank you, must be the journey, but I am a bit tired!” stammered Delia.

Trixie smiled inwardly. She knew exactly what, or rather whom, had gotten Delia into such a state. Trixie leaned in to Delia and winked, gesturing towards Patsy,

“She certainly is something to behold, isn’t she?”

Delia was ashamed at being caught so fast. Damn it, keep it together, Busby, she silently admonished.

Her silent internal reprimand had no effect on her whatsoever. Blame it on the whisky.

“ _Oh yes_. I mean, er, well, no. Well, she is a good dancer. Nice to watch. Not that I’m looking! I mean, obviously I‘m looking but not in the way you think! Cripes- what I mean to say is, well, you are a very lucky girl, Trixie,” stammered Delia.

Trixie burst out laughing,

“Oh, my goodness, Delia, Patsy and I aren’t together! She isn’t my type at all! She is my best friend, though, she was in my Spanish class all last year. She was there because she was interested in the history, I was interested in the Spanish men! We made quite a team, I can tell you! But in all seriousness, Delia, she is a free agent, and she would probably kill me for saying this, but by all means, go for it,” Trixie smiled. “Now, if you will excuse me, a certain Mr Dockerill is in dire need of my company,” she winked, gesturing towards Christopher who was watching her intently. Trixie squeezed Delia’s shoulder, the strutted towards Christopher, grabbed his hand, and snuck out the room with him.

Delia sighed. If only she had that confidence! Instead, she was a coward, watching Patsy, and drinking whisky trying to get the courage to go up to her, but failing, and instead starting to feel a bit queasy. Crap, she really needed some fresh air right now…

Delia snaked her way through the dancers to find her way to a door onto the central courtyard, and breathed in the crisp, cold September air. Much better.

Patsy, on her end, had noticed Delia leave, and so extricated herself from the dancefloor and grabbed a blanket from the sofa, wrapping it around herself before heading outside. There she spotted Delia, sat on the ground with her back against the wall, looking up at the night sky.

“Not a good night to see the stars, my little astronomer! There are far too many clouds!” she called out to Delia, making her jump.

“No, I suppose not. But I needed the fresh air.”

Patsy sunk down beside her,

“Are you alright? You seemed a little far away this evening. Are you missing home?”

“Home?” Delia asked. The notion that anyone or anything outside of this courtyard in the early hours of this Edinburgh morning even existed seemed absurd. “I… Maybe. It’s all very new to me, this”.

“You’ll get used to it, I promise. And you’ll love it,” Patsy touched Delia’s forearm reassuringly, and jumped at the cold goosebumps she felt. “Delia, you’re freezing, we need to get you back inside!”

“Oh, not yet! It’s chilly but I like it here.”

“Then have some of my blanket,” insisted Patsy, “it’s big enough for us both, easily,” she said, wrapping half of it around Delia, who smiled at her gratefully.

Delia couldn’t believe her luck. She felt an immediate warmth, not just from the blanket, but from the flush caused by the proximity to Patsy, and the moderate volume of whisky she had consumed doing nothing to calm her hormones. But she was also very tired, and the warmth was starting to lull her.

“I think I’m not very good with the whisky either…” she murmured, placing her head on Patsy’s shoulder.

Patsy was startled by the sudden contact, but did nothing to end it. “Ahh, you will up your tolerance, stargazer, just you wait”.

When she received no reply after a little while, she realised that Delia had fallen asleep on her shoulder. Brushing her dark hair out of her face, she decided that on this cloudy night, where even Delia Busby, astrophysicist extraordinaire, could not spot any stars, she, historian Patsy Mount had found the brightest star of them all.

It was currently breathing softly under the blanket, and Patsy didn’t want this moment to end. Maybe she could see the appeal in astronomy after all…


	4. Chapter 4

Delia awoke, feeling very groggy and with a pounding head in a room that was not her own. Cripes. She didn't get up to anything untoward last night, did she? Nope, she was still in her own clothes from last night. But where was she? Then it hit her. Oh blimey. She had fallen asleep on Patsy last night. How embarrassing. She groaned, but even that was a bit too much noise for her to stand. 

Patsy, however, wasn't there. She had risen early, as was her habit, and she had nipped to the pantry to grab a glass of water and some aspirin for Delia. She was likely to need it!

When she had seen that Delia had fallen asleep, she had hesitated on what to do. She had let her be for a while, and just listened to the sounds of the city at night, trying to think of anything but the soft head breathing softly and rhythmically on her shoulder. But after a while, the Scottish chill was starting to permeate even their little shared cocoon, and it was time to move back inside. Patsy nudged Delia a little,

"Delia!" she whispered. No response, only a contented sigh. "Delia, you might want to get up, we will catch a cold in here!" Delia still didn't respond, clearly still fast asleep, and Patsy realised she wss out for the count. Agh. What to do?

She really didn't want to try harder to wake her, Delia looked absolutely peaceful (and beautiful, dare she say it) in the soft lights of the night. But, she didn't have a key to Delia's room, so where would she sleep? She would have to put her in her own room. Patsy dithered. Would it seem weird? Probably, but she did not have much choice at this point. Patsy extricated herself from the blanket cocoon, wrapped Delia up in the blanket further, and scooped her up gently. Heavens, Delia really was out of it, as she wasn't even stirring very much. It was almost a cause for concern, but Delia was breathing steadily, so she seemed okay. Probably best to keep an eye on her, though.

Patsy made it through to her room quietly, and gently deposited Delia on her bed. They would both be able to fit on the frame, it was large for a single bed, but she wasn't able to get Delia under the covers. She put an extra blanket on top of her, and then got herself ready for bed. She really hoped Delia wouldn't think she was being inappropriate, but she couldn't see any other way.

So that was how Delia Busby ended up in Patsy Mount's room that night. Gosh, she was still embarrassed, though.

Delia's musings on her degree of embarrassment were interrupted by Patsy entering the room, with a glass of water and some aspirin. Noticing Delia awake, she exclaimed,

"Well hello there, sleeping beauty! You were out for the count last night! You are such a quiet sleeper, though, I was slightly worried about whether you were still breathing many times last night." She handed Delia the aspirin. "Here, you could probably do with this".

Delia was mortified. At least she didn't snore but geez...

"Pats, you're an angel, thank you so much. I am so, so, sorry, though, for all the trouble I put you through, you really didn't have to go to such lengths!"

Patsy blushed a little at the shortening of her name. Nobody called her Pats, but it sounded lovely with Delia's Welsh lilt.

"It was honestly no bother, Delia, I would have felt awful waking you up, you were so peaceful. I hope you don't mind that I brought you here."

"Not in the slightest, Pats." Something occured to Delia immediately. "Wait, Patsy, did you carry me here??"

Patsy winced. "Yes, I am so sorry, but there wasn't anybody else around and I really didn't want to wake you, and it isn't like you are very big, so it wasn't difficult".

Cripes. Delia was amazed. "No, don't worry, I was just impressed!" She downed the aspirin. "Thank you so much for everything, Patsy, you've been a star". She startled even herself by giving Patsy a brief hug. "I couldn't ask for a better RA".

Patsy tingled as she held Delia briefly. Oh she liked this...

"Delia, it was no problem at all. I am only sorry I didn't wake you earlier, they have stopped serving breakfast now, it is 11:45".

"Don't apologise! I am sure I will find somehwere, I think I spotted a café nearby on my way here, I'll grab something there. I take it you've eaten?"

"Actually, I haven't. I was helping another fresher with a room issue, then I ran into Trixie who was filling me in on details of her adventures last night, so I haven't actually had time. I have had a coffee, though".

"Would you like to join me, then? I could probably do with the company"

Patsy smiled, "it would be my pleasure".

Delia positively beamed at her. "Good, my treat to thabk you for last night. I insist. Knock for me in half an hour?"

"Sounds good to me".

And with that, Delia Busby waved and darted off to her own room, grinning and wondering how the hell she got away with that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the positive feedback so far! Here is hoping you enjoy this!

Delia groaned in bliss biting into a greasy sausage roll, sitting opposite Patsy in a small café near the halls. Patsy had opted for the same, and smiled at Delia, amused.

"One thing about Scotland is that their junk food is second to none! The Scots can deep fry anything," declared Patsy.

"I'll say! Thank you for pointing this place out, I will have to remember it for future occasions," smiled Delia. She took another bite of her sausage roll. "This is just what I needed!"

"Future occasions, Busby? I hope you aren't going to be making a habit of overdosing on whisky and giving me a heart attack every weekend. As nice as you seem, I don't think we can be sharing the same bed regularly just yet!"

"Oh God, Pats, that isn't at all what I meant, I was just- oh cripes, the- never mind," stammered Delia, turning a deep shade of red.

"I'm only teasing, you know, I won't mind if you keep treating me to breakfast," smirked Patsy.

Oh Lord. Patsy was way out of her depth here. Why was she acting so confident? Delia was making her put on some ridiculous bravado; for some reason Patsy was desperate to impress her. And the Welshwoman was adorable when she was flustered.

"It was the least I could do for your kindness last night, Pats, thank you so much again, I really am embarrassed," said Delia softly. On her end, Delia knew her actions last night had been far from impressive, but she really wanted to make it up to Patsy. Conversation seemed to flow so easily between them, and she just wanted to get to know the elegant redhead better.

"Delia, you didn't even snore, you were no bother at all, I promise," said Patsy.

Delia looked out the window. It was actually lovely sunshine now. "See that hill over there, Patsy?"

"Arthur's Seat?"

"Yeah. I want to climb it. It's like a little version of the Scottish Highlands."

"It'll take you an hour, tops. Though with your short legs, it may be longer, actually..." laughed Patsy.

"How dare you?" Delia exclaimed in mock outrage. "I'll have you know that I will, MOUNT, that hill in no time. In fact I could do it today. I'm going to ask some of the others if they want to come, would you like to?"

"Challenge accepted!"

Delia got up to pay for their meal, and turned around to Patsy,

"Race you back to the halls!"

And she darted out of the café giggling.

"Delia! So unfair! You got a head start!" Patsy shouted, running after her.

"I need it to make up for my tiny, tiny legs! Otherwise the comparison between our running speeds isn't valid!"

"You are incorrigible! Scientists!" Patsy laughed. She was incredibly competitive, but she wouldn't mind losing just this once.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An hour later, Patsy, Delia, Trixie and Cynthia were walking towards the hill. Chummy had politely declined, claiming that she didn't like heights, and that she was more likely to fall off the hill than anything else. Delia was disappointed, but silently agreed with her friend's logic.

Trixie had been delighted learning the turn of events from the previous night. Trust Patsy to be all chivalrous. She observed Delia quietly, watching her talk animatedly about something mathematical and complicated with Cynthia. She also noticed Patsy watching Delia intently. Humph. She clearly had no interest in Trixie's tales of her exploits last night. She looked like she would like to achieve some exploits of her own with the charming Miss Busby. Trixie thought that that was a perfectly reasonable target. But she also knew that Patsy had a lot of emotional baggage, and that Delia would have to be very gentle with her and not push her too hard. Patsy needed someone who could be there for her whilst also giving her space. Looking at Delia ahead of her, she wondered if she would be able to offer her that. She would need to test the waters. But for now, she knew that Patsy was not going to pay the damnedest bit of attention to her while Delia was ahead of them.

"Patsy, do you want to talk to Delia? It is alright if you do, it can be arranged," said Trixie kindly.

"It can wait, Trixie, honestly, I had her company at breakfast, it-"

"Nonsense, just watch!"

And with that, Trixie strode in to talk to Cynthia.

"Cynthia, I really need to know, how can anyone be mad enough to study maths?? Do enlighten me. I also have an economics module at some point this year and I can't count, so it would be handy for me to have some friends in the know with the numbers."

Patsy marvelled at how easily Trixie could insert herself into a conversation. She really thrived in social situations, unlike Patsy who wanted to crawl into a hole most of the parties that they went to. Trixie had enough charisma for them both, thankfully. She could probably seduce an office chair.

Delia fell back to talk to Patsy.

"Miss Mount, I do believe that you thought that I would struggle with this?"

"Well you are a little, ah, vertically challenged, stargazer. It is a wonder you can reach your telescope," said Patsy, smiling demurely.

"Well, I sometimes think I could do with a footstool. But I could just ask you for a piggyback. You could come in useful, Pats, you could get things off high shelves and things for me. It's a great deal, I think,"

"A great deal? What is in it for me?"

"The pleasure of my company, and finally finding a use for your giraffe frame!" Giggled Delia. She got a sudden idea. "I'll race you to the top?"

"Absolutely, but I am going to win," replied Patsy. And with that, they ran off, challenging Trixie and Cynthia to follow them. The four girls ran up the hill, giggling madly.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once at the little rocky summit, Delia appreciated the view of Edinburgh at midday. The view of the sea to the north was absolutely breathtaking, and there was a brilliant view of the castle. Oh, she liked it here already, even if it was quite windy up here. As she was taking pictures, Cynthia was starting to get a bit chilly, so Trixie volunteered to chum her down. It was just Patsy and Delia at the top of Arthur's Seat, and they were very pleased with themselves.

Huddled together for warmth, they appreciated the view in silence. Delia only broke the silence to insist that they took a selfie, and this gave Patsy an opportunity to give her her number so that she could text her it (it would, after all, be a crime to withhold a picture of Patsy from her where she actually looked decent. The girls' hair was all windswept, but they both looked almost stupidly happy).

Both girls then walked down the hill, back to the halls, in companionable, comfortable, albeit slightly tired silence, gracing each other with the odd smile which told more than a thousand words ever could.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delia begins to settle in to life at university!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has taken ages- been a busy time! I hope you enjoy this, feedback is always welcome.

A Freshers' Week had been alright, Delia supposed. She'd met a good few people, had a couple of great nights out, but had mainly spent time exploring the city with Chummy and Cynthia. She had not seen as much of Patsy recently, but that was to be expected, as the poor girl was probably rushed off her feet.

Classes had started 3 weeks ago, and Delia was in the library finishing up a chemistry lab report. Chummy had managed to convince her to take chemistry as an outside course, and so they were lab partners. Chummy was an absolute whiz at the theory, but by God, she was a menace in the laboratory. Last week, she had managed to set fire to their chromatography paper- nobody understood how she had managed to, as they weren't even using fire, but needless to say she was  _not_ the supervisor's favourite. She positively quaked in her boots when she saw Chummy approach.

Cynthia, however, much to Delia's delight, had taken physics as her outside course. She was a gift when it came to vector calculus- Delia had had a hard time catching up with that one, but Cynthia had spent many hours going through the basics with her, and her calculations were now almost faultless. Delia had always considered mathematics a rather inhuman discipline (too abstract and not useful until one used physics to apply it!), but nobody could ever accuse Cynthia of being inhuman. She had been so kind to Delia and they had been able to muddle their way around the campus together.

Now, Delia, Cynthia, and Chummy were sat huddled in a pod in the library, trying to work their way through their various lab reports and tutorial questions. It was absolutely pouring outside (Delia had learned that this was common in early October here- Scotland was even giving Pembrokeshire a run for its money in terms of precipitation. Hm. Maybe Delia would take meteorology next semester and find out why it rained here all the bloody time), and Delia was finding that she could do with a coffee. Pity they weren't allowed hot drinks in the pods, as it was quite chilly in here.

"Oh,  _blast_!"

Chummy had spilled her Tipp-Ex all over her work again. This was the second time this week. Delia sighed jokingly at her friend, and handed over some tissues, as well as a roll of correcting tape.

"You might want to try something that isn't fluid, Chummy, from your labs, we know you don't get on with liquids!" Winked Delia.

"Gosh, I've made a mess of this. Thank you ever so much, old bean, I don't know what I'd do without you!" replied Chummy gratefully, dabbing at the mess she had made and taking the correcting tape.

Cynthia hadn't even noticed. She was furiously scribbling unintelligible symbols with a pencil on a piece of paper. She was doing a complicated proof, Delia knew, but honestly, the combination of Cynthia's handwriting (how could someone so orderly have such awful writing?) and the complicated maths symbols looked like hieroglyphics, she figured Cynthia should be given an honorary degree in Egyptology at this point. She liked watching Cynthia work, though, she was always completely transfixed by her work, and she would sometimes let out a joyful whoop when she got to the end of a proof. The first time she had done that, Chummy had spilled her coffee all over herself and Delia had jumped out of her skin, but it was quite endearing. Delia wished she had that focus. As much as Delia loved astronomy, she was easily distracted and was quite capable of staring at a wall of 40 minutes instead of studying.

Delia's musings were interrupted when a certain bubbly blonde slid into the pod next to Cynthia. 

 

"Hello, girlies, gosh, it is impossible to get a space around here, how on earth did you manage?"

 

Chummy beamed at her. "Hello Trixie! I say, what a pleasure to see you. What brings you here?"

 

Trixie waved about a few sheets of paper.

 

" _This_ ghastly thing. I can't tell you how long it took me to write this damn essay. At least it is done now, but I am still not entirely happy with it."

 

Cynthia let out a small whoop. "Take that, proof by induction!"

 

"Oh good, she's done." Laughed Trixie. "I need some help for an economics paper, Cynthia, I'm afraid, can I trouble you? We can get coffee first if that is any incentive at all".

 

"Deal." Cynthia shoved her stuff into her bag. "We will get it to go, though, because if you don't mind, we will get back to Pollock too. The rain is off for now and I want to get back before it comes back!"

Trixie agreed, but just as they were about to leave, a certain redhead squeezed into the pod next to Delia. Delia blushed as Patsy's thigh pressed against her own, due to the lack of space.

"Hello! Did I miss much? Trixie, you said you would meet me at the cafe at 5! I was waiting there half an hour before I decided to Give up."

"I'm sorry, Patsy, totally slipped my mind! At least you found us now, though. Can I get you a coffee to make up for it?"

"I was hoping to get some work done, Trix, but I'm going to take you up on that tomorrow. Are you off?"

"Yes, while the rain is off. Cynthia is going to help me with economics. Chummy, Delia, do you want to come while the rain is off?"

Chummy nodded. "Yes please, old thing, I am gasping for a cup of tea".

"Sorry, Trixie, I need to finish this lab report. I will be along soon, though."

Patsy gave her a megawatt smile, and put her arm around Delia jokingly. Délia's breath caught a little.

"Well, at least  _someone_ isn't abandoning me." She laughed, releasing Delia from her grip. Delia ached for the touch again. "I'm only joking, get home while you can, I have a little work to finish but I'll be back soon."

And so they waved goodbye to Trixie and co, leaving only the two in the pod. Patsy immediately started rifling through a large book, popping her reading glasses on.

 _Oh dear_.  _Get it together, Busby_ , thought Delia.  _They're just glasses. She has to see, doesn't she_ _?_ Her throat felt dry as she went back to her own work, watching Patsy sneakily from time to time.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After about an hour, Patsy spoke.

"Deels, do you want to go and get a drink? I'm parched, I'm fed up of this, and there is a nice little pub around the corner if you are willing."

Delia agreed immediately, and looped her arm through Patsy's as they left the library and walked towards the pub. It was maybe a five minute walk away, and they walked lazily and chatted companionably, until they started to feel a few fat drops of rain on their heads.

"Oh cripes..." Delia started. Just then, the heavens opened up, and the two young women shreiked as they started to bolt towards the pub, Patsy attempting to keep them dry-ish by holding her jacket over them both, and failing miserably. By the time they reached the pub, they were drenched.

Patsy ordered two pints for the at the bar (refusing money from Delia, saying that her company was payment enough, and Delia retorting that she wasn't an escort), and they sat down at a quiet little table at the corner of the pub, watching and commenting on the goings-on around them. Delia watched Patsy, beautiful even though she was soaking wet, and leaned across and brushed a waterlogged strand of hair off Patsy's face. She could have sworn she felt Patsy's face heat up, and her breath stop. They were both watching each other now, Delia making no effort to move her hand, and Patsy briefly closing her eyes and sighing contentedly. You could cut the tension with a knife at this point. Their eyes locked, and Delia was about to lean forward, when she was interrupted by a stunning brunette squealing and squeezing Patsy's shoulder.

"Patience Mount! Well I never! How amazing! How have you been?" The girl pulled Patsy into a long hug, and kissed her cheek. Delia' eyes narrowed.

Patsy beamed at the girl, detaching herself slightly from the embrace, but still holding her shoulders. "Artemis, what a surprise! I didn't realise you were coming to Edinburgh! You were on a gap year, no? Sri Lanka was it?"

"Cambodia. I am just back, it was extended a little so I am slightly late back, but I'll be starting lectures tomorrow, I'm looking forward to it!"

"But as amazing as it is to see you, I don't understand what you are doing here, what happened to Oxford..?" Patsy trailed off, and snapped back to face Delia. "Delia, how rude of me not to introduce you, this is Artemis Foxton-Ellis, she was a friend at school. Artemis, this is Delia Busby, she is in the halls with me, terribly clever this one, a physicist, I think if anything can travel than the speed of light, it is her brain. The speed of light is the fastest in the universe, right Deels? That is what you explained?"

Delia smiled, albeit a little forcefully, as she took in Artemis. The tall willowy brunette had light brown hair styled perfectly despite having just come in from the rain, her features were sculpted just like a Greek statue (so her name was appropriate), and her green eyes positively sparkled behind long, thick eyelashes, in the dim pub lights. She had a light dusting of freckles across her cheeks, and she was absolutely beautiful. Her clothes were tailored perfectly, her long raincoat looking expensive, and fitting her figure like a glove. Delia felt extremely inadequate, but there was something about her that Delia could not put her finger on that she did not like very much about her. Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes when she shook Delia's hand, and she squeezed a little too tightly for Delia's liking.

"Pleased to meet you, Delia," said Artemis, looking anything but. "And Patsy, I think our relationship at school went a bit beyond friends at time, don't you think?" She laughed mirthlessly. "And that brings me onto your question, Patsy. Due to our, ah, late night supra-curriculars, we'll say, I was just short of the A* in English I needed for Oxford. So I am here instead, and I am not complaining. Especially now!" Artemis exclaimed, putting her hand on the small of Patsy's back.

Delia blanched, and a lump formed in her throat. What was she supposed to say to that? She attempted a smile as best she could, and asked, 

"So, Artemis, Cambodia sounds amazing, but what are you studying here?"

"Oh, philosophy" Artemis smiled at Patsy from under her eyelashes. "I like to try to answer life's biggest questions. None have been as puzzling as Patience Mount yet, but I daresay I shall find the answer yet!"

Patsy positively beamed at the ghastly woman. Delia couldn't bear it. 

"Well if anyone can find the answer, it is probably you, Art, can I get you a drink?"

Artemis sidled up to Patsy as they moved towards the bar. Delia watched disgustedly as they talked animatedly, Artemis running her hand up and down Patsy's arm, and Patsy looking thoroughly transfixed by the woman. Delia was fed up of watching them have eye sex, and her heart ached as she took a sip of her beer. It was going to be a long night...


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patsy comes undone. Major angst, and explanation of the deaths of her mother and sister.

Delia was not quite sure what to make of her situation. After they had flirted, and undressed each other with their eyes  _for what felt like hours_ , Patsy bade farewell to Artemis, and she and Delia headed back to their halls in a cab. Delia could feel Artemis' eyes boring into them from behind, but she made no effort to turn around. She couldn't bear even a glance at the stunning, leggy girl. Delia felt full of bile. Oh, she hated feeling jealous, it wasn't in her nature. But she was so, so curious to hear more too.

Patsy was staring out of the window dreamily.

"It's always nice to run into people, isn't it, Delia?"

"I suppose so. Have you known Artemis long?"

"A little while. She arrived in sixth form at school." Patsy looked at Delia, sensing that Delia wanted to ask more but wasn't sure how to proceed. "If you are wondering how well we knew each other, we were, ah, intimate for a while. She was my friend first, but Art always has to go all out. She was a lot more confident than I was, and I was transfixed. I had hoped that our actions meant more to her than just blowing off steam, but for her it was apparently purely stress relief. Pity, I fancied myself in love with her for a while," Patsy's eyes got a bit misty and Delia realised that while she had stuck to one pint, Patsy had drunk considerably more, and this was probably the reason that she was so talkative.

"And you lost touch?"

"Her goal was always Oxford. She went on her gap year and I didn't hear from her since, I figured I'd just be a distraction," there was a bit of an edge to Patsy's voice. "But now she is here, and I am not sure how to feel."

"Now she is here," agreed Delia. "Does anyone else know, Patsy? About Artemis?"

"Trixie. I was a bit of a mess when I arrived here, if I'm honest. She had just ghosted me, and I was heartbroken. I'd had a rough time at school before she arrived, and she had reminded me of what it was to live again. I don't think she's her biggest fan, actually."

 _I will bet she isn't,_ thought Delia. She smiled sadly at Patsy, at a slight loss for words, and paid the cabbie. When they reached Patsy's room, Patsy took Delia's hand and dragged her into her room wordlessly. She poured herself a healthy measure of gin and downed it. She offered the bottle to Delia who declined, shaking her head and saying softly,

"Patsy, you might have had enough now."

Patsy flopped down on the bed, and dragged Delia down on top of her. Delia extracted herself from their tangle of limbs. She wanted Patsy, but not like this, not taking advantage of her when she was drunk and emotional.

"Deels, I need to tell you something," Patsy started, her voice croaking.

"Anything at all Pats, but not anything you might regret in the morning, cariad" murmured Delia.

"Do you want to know why the whole Artemis situation is utter shit?"

"Why, Patsy?"

"She lifted me up after one of the darkest periods of my life. She was there, she valued me and for the first time in two years, I felt  _wanted_."

"Pats..." Delia felt Patsy was going to regret this in the morning but there was no stopping the redhead.

"It was shit before I met her. Shit. My mother and sister had just died," fat tears were making their way down Patsy's cheeks now. "Two separate incidents, very close together. It was just after I sat my GCSEs. Grace was only 11. She had just started boarding school but insisted on staying with me over the Easter hols, as I had to stay to revise. 'Nobody should be alone over Easter, Patsy,' she told me. She was so sweet, she was an absolute angel and I have no idea how we shared DNA. She always saw the good in me, in everyone and everything. We hadn't seen our family since Christmas and she was so excited to get back home, so we did as soon as I had finished my exams. But as we got home, everyone was speaking in hushed tones around us, and Father told us he needed to talk to us."

Delia could see where this was going, and she grasped Patsy's hand.

"Mother had died a month ago. Pancreatic cancer with a rapid onset. They didn't say anything because they didn't want to bother me during my exams and they didn't want to upset Grace. But they didn't even tell me when she fucking died, Delia. I didn't get to say goodbye and I didn't even go to the fucking funeral." Patsy was sobbing now.

"I had never seen Grace so angry. She, who smiled at everyone like the sun shone everywhere she looked, snapped. She was yelling at our father, she was hysterical, she was wild. I hadn't processed it yet properly, and I couldn't see her like this, but there was an argument. She stormed out the house, and I ran after her because I  _knew_ she wouldn't be doing herself any favours. I shouted after her but she ran out onto the road anyway, and she was crying so much that she didn't see the lorry come. I couldn't stop it, Delia, nobody could save her. She died instantly. She was so little..."

Delia's own tears were flowing freely now. She pulled Patsy into her arms.

"Patsy, cariad, I don't know what to say. I am absolutely heartbroken for you, come here. I'm here, sweetheart, I am here, whenever you want me to be," she said, punctuating each word with a kiss in Patsy's hair. 

"Grace is why I came here. She loved reading books about Mary Queen of Scots. I wanted to be close to her."

"Of course you did, my darling," Delia stroked Patsy's hair while she cried.

"And Artemis made me feel so special, you know? And  _desired_. I hadn't felt that way before, and she helped me realise how I felt towards women. I didn't think I would love again, but I did, and it nearly destroyed me. And now she comes waltzing in here looking beautiful and watching me and  _I cannot help myself_. We were absolutely stellar, but she left and I didn't know what I felt. She never knew about any of this, I couldn't bring myself to tell her because she made me forget all of it." Patsy cried.

Delia's heart was broken for the redhead in her arms. She'd been through hell and back, and still had kindness in her heart. She thought back to her first night in Edinburgh. Sweet Patsy, who had cared for her throughout the night and brought her aspirin had been through all of this pain. She couldn't even begin to comprehend what the poor girl must've gone through. And to have her heart broken on top of it... And she still got into Edinburgh... The strength this girl had was unbelievable.

"Delia, I think I can't talk any more," murmured Patsy, looking up at Delia with swollen, red eyes.

Delia got out a handkerchief and softly wiped Patsy's face. "Patsy, thank you for telling me," she said gently. "This might sound like a shallow question, but what can I do to help you now?"

"Stay with me, Delia. Hold me tonight, please. I don't want to be by myself," Patsy's voice cracked.

"I'm not going anywhere, Patience Mount."

And as she held the sleeping Patsy later on in the night, watching her chest rise and fall rhythmically, Delia made a silent promise. That she wouldn't let anyone or anything else hurt Patience Elizabeth Mount if she could avoid it, ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not entirely sure about this one, it was a difficult one to write. Two updates in one day may be a lot... Feel free to leave your thoughts below.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of angst here...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for late update! Took a bit of motivation to get this out so I hope that you all like it. Feedback welcome as always.

As the first rays of sunlight poked through the clouds on that dull Edinburgh morning, Delia slowly opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings. Ah. She was in Patsy's room.

Thinking back to the events of the last night, Delia observed the sleeping Patsy before her. Sleep relaxed her features almost completely, smoothing out the frown lines that could often be seen on her during the day. _God, she was beautiful_. 

 _Agh. Stop thinking like that, Busby,_ Delia admonished herself.  _You are just going to hurt yourself._ It didn't change the fact that Patsy was still emotionally damaged from her previous relationship, and Delia did not want to hurt Patsy either. Damn Artemis. If Delia ever got her hands on that horrible woman... How could she do that to Patsy?  She may not have known about the ghastly situation that she was in but leading someone on, disappearing then waltzing back into their life like nothing had happened? Not a way to get into anyone's good graces. 

Turning her attention to the sleeping redhead, Delia noticed that despite her formidable height, Patsy looked almost small when she was asleep. She just looked a little vulnerable. What to do to help? Delia softly extracted herself from the bed, feeling Patsy shift slightly as she removed her arm. She was going to get Patsy a glass of water and an aspirin.

Delia looked at Patsy and was so tempted to kiss her head before she went, but settled with pulling a stray strand of hair behind her ear. 

"I'll be back," whispered Delia, even if Patsy couldn't hear her.

As she slowly and quietly padded out of Patsy's room, she saw a figure emerging from the bathroom. At this time? Ugh. Oh dear. It was Trixie. Who was immediately making a beeline for Delia, and with a dangerously excited look on her face.

"Did you stay in her room  _all night_?? Delia Busby, you dark horse! Oh my God, _did you two_..?" babbled Trixie excitedly.

"God, Trixie, no!"

"But you..."

Delia pulled Trixie into her own room, shushing her. She would explain to Trixie what was going on. She was Patsy's best friend so maybe she could help.

"How much has Patsy told you about Artemis?"

Trixie's eyes widened in understanding, and Delia explained the events of the last night. She cried for Patsy's lost family, for her treatment by Artemis, she felt pathetic but she couldn't help it, and she told of Artemis' return in the pub. What a bloody awful coincidence.

Trixie pulled Delia into her arms.

"Sweetie, that sounds like it was a ghastly evening for you, too. What horrible timing that bitch has. Nothing has changed it seems!"

"It isn't me that you need to feel sorry for. We have to think about Patsy" sniffed Delia. She wiped her eyes determinedly with her sleeves. "What can we do for her, Trix?"

"She cannot go near Artemis, Delia. We cannot let her get hurt like that again. That woman is trouble and I do not believe she intends to fix Patsy's heart. It is in enough pieces as it is."

"As much as I don't want to see Pats hurt, Trixie, we can't expressly forbid her from seeing Artemis. We can't ground her. She is a grown woman and she won't thank us for it."

"No, I suppose not. Thank you for telling me, Delia. I will speak to her."

"Just please be gentle, Trix, it breaks my heart to see her like that."

"You don't need to worry, Delia". And with that, Tricia insisted she needed a little beauty sleep and left.

Delia sighed, and went to grab some aspirin and a glass of water from the pantry for Patsy.

She didn't realise that Patsy was awake when she went back into her room. She watched Delia cross the room and accepted the aspirin gratefully.

"You are an angel"

They sat in silence as Patsy took her aspirin.

"Delia, I owe you an apology for last night. I over shared. You don't need to deal with my problems and I am truly sorry." Patsy cast her eyes down as she said this.

"Patsy, I know you didn't confide in me in the most ideal circumstances, but I am here if you need anything. I mean it, Pats. I really care about you and you shouldn't have to deal with this alone."

"Delia, thank you. I mean it. You've been fantastic to me."

Delia smiled "I'm only returning the favour this morning. We're getting a sense of déjà vu, here, hm?"

"That we are," chuckled Patsy.

Delia smiled, and squeezed Patsy's hand. "I had better leave you to it, but if you need anything, you know that I am just next door." She smiled tenderly at the redhead and left. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two and a half hours later, Delia was getting changed and was startled by a sharp knock at her door.

"Delia?" Patsy sounded agitated.

Delia rushed to the door, even though she hadn't put her trousers on and was effectively only in her t-shirt and pants.

Delia opened the door to an irate Patsy.

"Mind if I come in?" Patsy asked, walking past Delia into her room, not waiting for a response.

"Patsy, what..?"

"You  _told_ her!"

Trixie. Shit.

"Patsy, I..."

"No, you don't get to speak just yet!" Patsy's eyes flashed dangerously. "I trusted you, Delia. Look at me!" Delia had never heard Patsy raise her voice before, and looking up, she saw hurt in Patsy's blue eyes

"I trusted you, and you go spilling the details of our  _private_ conversation to everybody!"

"Patsy, with all due respect, Trix is your best friend, you told me that she knew,  _and she did_ , so I was trying to work out the best way to help you..." Delia faltered a little. "I'm sorry if that wasn't the right thing to do."

"If?  _If_? Delia that is a shitty apology and you know it!" Patsy's eyes and voice were ice. "I don't need your help, or Trixie's. I am a big girl now." She sneered. "I thought you were better than that"

And with a certain finality, Patsy spun on her heel and left, slamming the door, and leaving a crestfallen Delia pulling her trousers on and wondering how the hell she was going to get through her lab this morning.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So some more angst for you all once more... I do try ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has been a while, been away on holiday! Howevee, I am returned and with oodles of spare time, but perhaps lacking inspo! Bear with, and comments, suggestions always welcome.

Delia had been in a tizzy all week. Damn Patience Mount. The very last thing she had wanted to do was interfere with her life. But she could not deal with this by herself, so it had seemed logical to ask Trix for help. She could not have anticipated Patsy's reaction to that. Nobody could have. Ugh. This was all so damn complicated.

Cynthia was sat next to Delia in the library, quietly observing her friend staring blankly at the textbook with concern.

"Delia, you have been looking at that page on angular momentum for 20 minutes now. Can I do anything to help? I am aasuming it isn't the physics that has you looking so lost, it wouldn't be like you"

"Can you help me calculate the angular momentum of my life as it spirals out of control, please, Cynthia? You have always been good with the formulae."

Cynthia sighed. It saddened her to see her bubbly friend reduced to this sad, hollow, shell. She knew that Delia was upset about something, or rather, someONE, but she had not been able to wheedle anything out of the brunette yet. She had guessed that it was perhaps to do with a certain Patsy Mount, as the two had been speedwalking past each other if the saw the other, or maybe it was the way Delia's voice caught and trailed off when she saw the redhead walk into the room that she was in.

And, even without any of her long statistics calculations (she had not been in Edinburgh that long, but Cynthia was famed for them already. She was pretty damn proud of her stats), Cynthia could tell that Patsy was upset too. She froze when she saw Delia in the room, and if she didn't manage to find a convenient excuse to leave the moment that Delia walked in, she would distance herself as far as possible, but glance over at her regular, her blue eyes sad and a touch wistful. Communication was disturbed between the two and Cynthia knew that if they cold just talk, the two would be so much happier. But to convince Delia to drag Patsy back out of her shell... That would be hard.

"Delia, I do not want to pry, but you are one of my closest friends. I can help you find a formula to help solve what is wrong if you just give me an idea of what is going on. It is Patsy, isn't it? I am not just good at numbers, I can be good at listening too."

Delia's head snapped right back up from her book. Damn. Cynthia was astute. She bit her lip and squinted at her friend. How much could she divulge without breaking the confidentiality between her and Patsy? It was a tricky business, and she wasn't sure she wanted to talk about it yet. Hell, she hadn't even told Cynthia that she liked girls yet! Though her behaviour towarss Patsy probably made it damn obvious. Think, Busby, think!

"It is very complicated, Cynthia. I really like her. She is smart, beautiful, funny... she has it all, but I broke her trust. Something big came up from her past and she was really upset. She said Trixie knew about it, so I spoke to Trixie to try to get her perspective on how to help Patsy. But Parsy got very angry that I had spoken to Trixie, and she barged into my room saying that I had broken her trust, and really, Cynthia, I never would have done that if I didn't think we could help her. I have made an arse of it and I hate myself. I was only trying to help and it backfired and I am miserable".

Cynthia stared at Delia for a while, pensive. It wasn't much to go on, but it was a start.

"You need to speak to her. As soon as possible. Tell her you are upset and want to fix things. She was angry in the heat of the moment and you were shocked but she will have calmed by now and you have got some perspective on things. Ask for her to hear you out, and if she says no, then at least you tried. If you think about it, your relationship cannot get much worse".

"But Cynthia..."

"As far as I see it, that is the only option you have. Are you going to take it or leave things as they are? Do you truly want that?"

"No, but..."

Cynthia smiled. "Go get her, Busby. And let Chummy and I know when you do!"

Delia packed away her things, hugged her friend briefly, then made her way back to the halls.

Once Delia got to her room, she devided to change. A little blue dress she had had for ages would do, nothing too formal, but it looked nice and she wanted to make an effort to apologise. After slipping it on, and attempting to wing her eyeliner five times, then scrubbing it off because her hands were too shaky. Satisfied with her appearance, she made her way to her door and stepped out when she collided with...

Oomph. Patsy. Bloody typical.

"Delia! Sorry, i was just-"

"-coming to talk to you!"

Both women looked at each other, and started to laugh, a little uneasily. 

"Are you alright, Pats?"

"I wanted to speak to you."

"I was on my way to do the same thing"

"Walk with me?"

They walked in awkward silence, until Patsy found a bench in a relatively private part of the grounds.

"So..." Delia trailed off as they sat down.

"I wanted to apologise for being an arse"

"Patsy, I want to say sorry, I am the one who broke your trust, I am sorry, you know I would never, ever want to hurt you becaus--"

Patsy placed a finger on Delia's lips ever so gently, earning a reverent silence from the brunette.

"Please let me finish, Delia. I had no right to invade your space like that. I know you only wanted to help, I was only cross because Trixie had sort of bulldozed into it, but that was her attitude, not yours, and I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I was upset, but not really with you. And I have missed your company a lot. Please forgive me."

"Patsy, there is nothing to forgive. I am so sorry. I would never hurt you, you have been nothing but lovely to me since I got here and I broke your trust." Delia took a deep breath. Time for honesty. "I really like you, Pats. You are amazing and beautiful and I feel so lucky to spend time with you. I know you don't feel the same way but I thought I needed to tell you because otherwise I felt I was deceiving you in some way, sorry I am rambling now, but I felt I needed to be honest with you. Fully."

Patsy looked slightly taken aback. She swallowed loudly and took Delia's hand, her thumb tracing circles on the back of her hand as she digested this information.

"Delia, thank you. But I have to be honest too. I also have feelings for you, but I do not want to drag you into the shitstorm that is my life right now. I feel that we could really have something great and the timing and Artemis and everything is mucking everything up. Would it be self centered of me to ask you to bear with me for a while while I sort things out?" Patsy looked at Delia, anxiety obvious in her eyes.  
"Take your time, Patsy. I am not going anywhere".

"You are an angel, Deels." Patsy released Delia's hand, and go up. She took off her scarf and tied it around Delia's neck.

"Keep warm. This Scottish aor can be nippy."

And she swayed back inside, leaving a dumbfounded Delia in her wake.


End file.
